Compromise

[Ejac13]

My wife is all about White Zinfedel & Reisling while I love dry reds with hints of pepper and/or oak. We are looking for some middle-of-the-road wines that we can share (red, rose, or white) in more casual settings. We both enjoy Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages (the only red she's ever publically endorsed). Yellowtail's Shiraz has been recommended from friends. The reviews of a Lambrusco on this board will encourage a purchase as well. Other than that, what vinyards/grapes or keywords on a label/review should we keep in mind?

[Innkeeper]

Hi Ejac, and welcome to the Wine Board. You might want to move on to the Cru Beaujolais. These are somewhat bigger than Villages, and come from smaller parcels of terroir. They don't have the word Beaujolais on their labels, so you have to know the names. The lighter, fruiter ones that you both might like are Brouilly and Fleurie.

Ther are many wines fitting your description coming from central and southern Italy at very nice prices these days. From Apulia comes Salice Salentino and Primitivo; the latter is a clone of zinfandel, and the former has primitivo and a shot of another grape called negromaro. From the Marches come Rosso Piceno and Rosso Conero; both blends of sangiovese (the Chianti grape) and the smoother montepulciano. From Abruzzi comes Montepulciano d'Abruzzi which is 100% montepulciano.

You haven't mentioned whites except that your wife likes them, and that we could recommend them. Since she likes riesling which is a wonderful and versitile grape and also likes white zin, it sounds like she likes sweet wines. You could do two things. One try to move to dryer rieslings such as those from Alsace and Austria. There are also dry rieslings available from the Finger Lakes. Secondly, you could try something ever so slightly off dry such as Vouvray from the Loire.

[This message has been edited by Innkeeper (edited 07-20-2002).]